Crypto Stocks Drop as Bitcoin Tumbles Below $70,000 for First Time in Two Months

Crypto stocks dropped in morning trading. Strategy fell 8%; Circle fell 5%; Coinbase and BitMine fell 4%; Robinhood and Bullish fell 3%.

Bitcoin dipped below $70,000 for the first time in almost two months, as concerns about the conflict in Iran and selling by major holder Strategy Inc. dented investor appetite.

The largest cryptocurrency dropped as much as 3.7% on Tuesday to its lowest level since April 8, and traded at around $68,678 at 10:00 a.m. in New York. Other cryptocurrencies like Ether and Solana fell across the board.

Bitcoin faces additional headwinds as two of the traditionally biggest sources of demand — exchange-traded funds and Michael Saylor’s Strategy — have suddenly become a drag on the price.

Strategy on Monday disclosed its first sale of the token since late 2022, disposing of about $2.5 million of its $59 billion stockpile. The move marked a symbolic break from the maximalist playbook that helped make Strategy one of Bitcoin’s largest buyers.

While the sale is negligible relative to Strategy’s Bitcoin position, it arrives at a sensitive moment for the market. US ETFs tied to Bitcoin have suffered net outflows for a record 11 straight days, with investors yanking almost $3.5 billion over that stretch, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

As a result, the cushioning effect of progress made on US legislation to oversee crypto markets has been “overwhelmed” by risk-off sentiment on Iran, according James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares.